Archmage from another world
by C4ptainseven
Summary: The Archmage of the world seeks a new adventure to escape from his boredom. Takes place in the year x800, 7 years after team Natsu leaves for the 100 year job. Rated M for language and anything else that could earn this.
1. Prologue: Learning of and finding the ne

Brand, the self-proclaimed Archmage of the town of Riddleport sat at his desk, thinking of his life and post-life, all his experiences so far. Starting as his father, Blitz' apprentice. When he came of drinking age, he had accidentally and drunkenly killed an old man when trying to restore the ice in his water. This got him banished from his home village. Banishment was favorable to death for all, as everybody knew it was an accident.

Later, after being declined from the wizard collages of the land due to the murder of an old man. That as well as the fact that he was technically a sorcerer, not a wizard. He tried to return to his home to see if people were going to be forgiving. However, once he came to the clearing the town rested in he found that the village had been destroyed. Curiously, there was no trace of any magic being used in the destruction. His father was still alive. This is when Brand had decided to live an adventuring life. He knew that it would be the only way to learn magic without a teacher to locate or a school to turn to.

His adventure started, he obeyed the law to the extent that it was written. Although, he didn't force himself to do good or evil within his heart. At least for the time being, that is. He met his first true friend at the beginning, Phaedra. The two of them had found a poster asking for adventurous types, those who could protect somebody from the monsters that might attack on the way to the town of Riddleport. This is when the heart of darkness started to grow within him, he decided.

Trying to think of the details, all the lich could think of was the councilman who had stolen from him, his friend, and his employer once the three of them reached the inn they were going to stay in.

After his employer had set into the inn, the two had started to explore the town. This was their first encounter with the gang that he would come to own merely a year later, the Brand Sashes. At the time though, they were known as the Red Sashes. He remembers that he and his friend had won somehow, and had started to chase the one who had fled the fight. That weakling was how they had been introduced to Razer, the previous owner of the gang.

Soon after, he gained a few more comrades for adventuring with. But these people could not be called friends. The group found themselves investigating the disappearance of a locally important person, but Brand couldn't recall his name. He mustn't have been important after all. What was important though, was that there were hobos squatting in his home. There was a controlled fire in the living room. As punishment, he burned one of their faces with the fire and the other with some magic acid he conjured. He wanted to kill the third one with ice, but one of his adventuring group, Skasst, stopped him from doing so and turned Brand in to the local guards.

The crime boss, Mr. Zyncher, had noticed the crime himself and saw an opportunity for a torturers' assistant in him. Brand chuckled at the thought. Zyncher paid his bail, then hired him to destroy the guard station by the end of the day. Agreeing, Brand returned to the adventuring group. They had all found a hole that led somewhere and had a sturdy rope. He was going to go last, but he remembered the betrayal he felt from Skasst. After Skasst had nearly climbed halfway down, being the second to last to climb down, Brand had burned the rope to lock them all down there with no hope of getting out.

Leaving the hole, Brand made his way to the guard station and set it on fire using a flaming sphere, smiling as he did it. Crime and evil were starting to feel right to him. The top guard who had been causing trouble for Zyncher was standing in the fires. So, the spell was cast, magic missile. Causing the guard to die, Brand found his way back to the crime lord's house.

The wife of the crime lord had a different plan for Brand. She saw the swelling of magic within him. She sent him to the Devil's Elbow Island to find an artifact that could pull stars from the sky. But she knew that his adventuring group would soon be there as well and sent him with a hat that changed his appearance to whatever he wished. This was so that his group could be helpful to him once more.

The masquerade went on for some time. But after one combat, his hat fell off. He was found out after a few months and it was time for him to bribe them all with the deeds that he did alongside them as a different mage of the same caliber. He gave them his gold, his healing potions, and his bag of holding to compensate them for their anger. It was nearly easy for him to play them all for his puppets.

The group then got tangled into the war between demons and elves. Brand knew that his magical growth was abnormal at this point, slowly needing to kill more and more powerful beings to gain magic. Intervening in the war, his power turned the tides of every battle. It was time for him to overcome a test, he recalls. He was to go to the demon camp and rescue the elven council of divine magic. He went in with a grin. Not to save the council, but to gain more power from all the demons that were housed there.

Rather than needing to fight all the demons, he only needed to fight their strongest as the others watched. However, he wasn't ready for something with the power of a demigod and near immortality on its side. Nearly dying in the fight, Brand remembers having a surge of magic. It felt as though one of the true gods of magic pushed more power into him so he may live. He obliterated the body, leaving the head a heap of flesh and falling from the strain of overcharging his body the way he did.

Soon after rescuing the divine council, he and his group were charged with the task of saving the world. Saving the world from the dark elves that would pull stars from the sky to kill those who liked living on the surface. Brand knew at this point that only a person of Archmage level could attempt to do that, even with the artifact.

On their way to face this evil, Brand and the group found a group of dragons. He was turned into a dragon-kind while he negotiated with them for their lives. He even gained an ally in one of them, a redeemed black dragon who called himself McDaniels. Armed with the power of dragons, somehow now being able to channel a fraction of a god's power, and with the confidence of a man cheating in poker, Brand and his friends, sans McDaniels, went to fight the Archmage of dark elves.

What he remembers most about the situation was that the demigod from before was there, laughing. The king of goblins, the chief of orc barbarians, and the Archmage were there. This was his greatest and final trial of his first adventure. He altered the minds of the goblin and the orc to fight the demigod with him as his friends tried to deal with the Archmage. The goblin and orc died swiftly to the demigod's power. He'd become stronger in the year since Brand killed him. Channeling the god's power, Brand killed the demigod again.

His friends had successfully slain the Archmage with great difficulty. Brand grabbed the artifact that would have pulled stars from the sky, saying that he'd keep it safe from the wrong hands. The body of the demigod moved, pulling all evil in the room towards it, sapping the artifact of its power. The head rose without the body, the eyes turning to crystalline gems, flesh falling off, evil radiating and the sound of laughter raging from the demilich demigod before them, it flew off into the dark sky above. Brand remembers passing out from that point. It was at this point that he knew he was beyond the power of most legends.

Word of his power got out to even this small town of Riddleport. Brand found and killed the councilman who robbed him a year before, changed himself into a lich and created a new plane of existence at the same time, causing the plane of existence to be his phylactery. He had it grow all components he could ever need for any spell, it would have factories making golems and clockwork dragons, colossi of magnificent quality. Over the next ten years, he perfected his magic. This was when he was called to his second adventure.

He remembers attending Phaedra's wedding. His wife was beautiful in nearly every respect. Brand just wished she wasn't so dumb or hard to talk to. But at least Phaedra was marrying into royalty. This is when a man claiming to be the king of magic appeared. Everybody laughed at him, saying that there is no true king of magic. He proved those people wrong by forcing two of the elven gods into the physical world and nearly slaying them. The clerics of those two deities lost their powers for some time. The king of magic he proved himself to be, but he only stared at Brand and laughed. There was something funny to this man and Brand still didn't know what it was.

The king of magic released a heavy fog that covered the elven capital in anti-magic particles, opened a cursed gateway to the demonic realm, and let demons pour loose. Not knowing how to react to the fog, Brand simply ran from the gate. Catching himself in a street with nobody in sight, he looks up from the sound of a baby's crying. Before his eyes, he saw abortions of magic. No, not just abortions of magic. These were gods that never lived. Gods slain in the wombs of their mothers! Brand shivers slightly at the memory.

He was barely able to kill one with his single-target magic. It was taxing to do in the fog that restrained his abilities. He heard more coming. He gathered his friends and pulled all things good and living to a place where he knew they would be safe. The frozen north, where one of his adventuring companions ended up after ten years. Brand remembers that he had gone to Riddleport to get the townspeople from there as well. It had started to rain fire in the distance, making a sight of a coming apocalypse. He used several teleportation circles to evacuate the town.

It wasn't before long that Brand, Phaedra, Skasst, and the rest of the old group had found each other in the north. It was only by going to the magnetic pole that they had found the Crystal Cathedral. It was there that they met an old god of magic, who taught them all how to tap into the magic that the so-called king of magic used. Brand then learned that this was the god that he was taking power from. It was how he could defeat the demigod so many times. It was at this point that Brand used this magic on the god himself. This nearly killed the god, as it nearly did with the elven gods before.

"Why?!" That was the sentence that Brand has engraved in his mind. Why did he try to kill the god that was helping him? He leaned back in his chair thinking about what all happened that day. The Crystal Cathedral, the old god of magic, the false betrayal… That was it! He needed to weaken the god to absorb him to save the world! Because no demigod, mortal, or god could plainly defy the king of magic!

What needed to happen was that Brand, the most powerful mortal, who had created a way of immortality for himself, needed to be flesh made god, as well as a god made flesh at the same time. It was so that he was not in between, but not one or the other. He simply was magic immortalized for a time. Now, he felt the laws of reality didn't matter to him. However, he knows to do what helps the most people.

Brand alone walked into the room where the king of magic sat, in his throne atop the stairway to the place where he kept deities as weak as they were, as pets. The battle between the two of them would have destroyed any other entities forever. The king of magic, stealing the strength of gods in a weakened state was fighting Brand, a mortal and a god of magic at the truest peak of power. After defeating the king of magic, the Crystal Cathedral vanished and the gods returned to full power.

This was when the old god of magic died within Brand. Brand erased the memories of the near-apocalypse from his friends, making him the only master of that magic the old god left behind. This was the second time he had saved the world. He knew it would be his last. Mostly because the world needs more heroes, so he needed to leave it.

Brand stands from his chair, walking around his desk. He knew he couldn't stay in this universe. But he also couldn't go to a universe without magic. He started to peer into the vast multiverse. He wanted to go to a place where people wouldn't want to simply kill him outright. Somewhere pleasant, where they have magic he doesn't have. His magic is within, not without. Some of it is without but not within. Very few spells are both within and without. Almost like reading a book, Brand flips through the pages of the multiverse and decided that he'd visit the world that called itself Earth Land. More specifically, the town of Magnolia, where the guild Fairy Tail resides.

"Hey, I'm going on a trip. Don't wait for me to get back because I might not come back. Got it?" Brand says through the world, telepathically. Some people are confused, most are scared, and very few are sad. But there is a group that knows that he's doing what he knows is right.


	2. Chapter 1: The man who smells wrong

Outside of the town of Magnolia, there stood a man who seemed out of place. The town itself was celebrating with the Fantasia parade, all colors of light flew about the sky with different spells. There was cheering and joy all throughout, as well as the songs that went in tune with the spells.

Meanwhile, the man who stood from afar looked at his hands as if he was reading a book. There was something coming from him constantly, with the feeling of magic with no weight behind it. His clothes looked like something that would be found on a member of the magic council, only that the fabric was visually moving in a flame-like pattern. His eyes were made of gemstones that revealed things that he would consider to be magical, reveal the true form of anything that had been changed magically, detect the sway of good or evil within a person's heart, and see those who are ghosts or any other invisible creature. It wasn't obvious, but he was casting a spell known as Legend.

What the spell itself did was give information to the caster and kept them alive from either starvation or sleep deprivation, but does not prevent aging. The caster would select something; a person, item, country, or idea and learn about it at the same rate as they would be able to read it. The man casting it read things as soon as they appeared and so could learn the history of the country he stood on. He cast it again, but this time he wanted to learn about the guilds that held the most importance to the country. He came across something he found amusing. That thing was slayer magic. Every prominent guild in the country had at least one slayer-type wizard in their ranks. From what was known, there were three types of slayers. The demon, the god, and the dragon slayer wizards.

The man thought about the festival before him in the town below. Would they know what he is? Would his lack of Ethernano be apparent to everybody there? He had started to walk into town while casting another legend. This time it was about all the currently living dragon slayers. He found information on fewer people than he would have liked, but he did find their names and locations.

"Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, Laxus, and Cobra." The man stated to himself. He knew about them what the public knew, what their guildmates knew, and what they themselves knew about them. The man stopped to watch the parade for Fairy Tail. Perhaps this is what he needed. He needed to join the ranks of Fairy Tail.

After that parade, the man started to leave the area in search for somewhere to sleep. He walked through the town, looking for an inn or hotel or bar that would have a room he could sleep in. He found nothing. There were only the packed buildings and crowded streets of the town. Growing uncomfortable, he casts the Fly spell and goes up to get a better point of view. A roof would be his bed tonight. He chose the roof of the Fairy Tail guild hall so that once he woke up, he wouldn't have to move more than he had to.

The next morning, the man woke up to yelling. Something about a lunatic with strange magic last night. Something else about the guild hall not being a place to sleep on. Then there was ice. There was ice everywhere and the man was stuck to the roof. This shot him awake and made him use the spell Transmute Material to make the ice into steam. He stands on the roof, looking down to the one who cast the spell. A naked man who had a mark on his chest, the emblem of Fairy Tail.

"Oh hey." The tired man said. "You're Gray Fullbuster, right? My name is Brand. Could you put some clothes on? It's too early in the day to be naked." Brand started to fly down to Gray, yawning.

"You think it's okay to do something like that!? You're not a member, so unless you plan on becoming one I'll have to kick your ass!" Gray looked upset that a strange man who he had never seen before was doing something ridiculous like sleeping on the roof. What kind of a person would do that?

"Actually-" Brand started "No." Gray interrupted. "You won't allow new members after that show you put on last night?" Brand asks. "Because I'm willing to wait it out until you're accepting members." There is a glare between the two.

"Sorry, but I'm not sensing anything in terms of magic from you. But it does feel dangerous enough to warn you not to screw with us." Gray continued the glaring contest with Brand. "I truly do want to join your ranks. This isn't what I'd expect from somebody with your reputation. Besides, I did fly down here without landing on my ass." Brand smirked.

"That's enough!" a gruff, old voice called from lower. Brand looked down, sighing. "You must be Makarov Dreyar. It's an honor to meet you." Brand extends his hand to shake Makarov's. There is only more glaring. "Do you, in your heart of hearts truly believe that you could be of help to Fairy Tail, regardless of your lack of magic?" Makarov asks, seeking to test the will of this strange man.

Brand lets out a sigh. "I have magic. It's not magic from this world, however. You see, I am not from around here. I don't use magical energy the same way you do. Instead of constantly using, transforming, and expelling Ethernano, I simply take power from within myself and let it out. I need about eight hours of rest to be able to fully replenish my supply, followed by one hour of focusing on all the spells I want to cast for the day. If I don't do these things, I will continue to use spells from the previous day's preparations."

Makarov looks to Gray. "You saw what he did to your ice, right Gray? Perhaps we should test his full capabilities before making a judgment." Makarov starts walking towards the hall, unlocks it and enters. "We'll have you fill out some paperwork. Then you'll show us what you can do." Brand smiles at the last comment. "I look forward to it."

Entering the guild hall, Brand sees a bit more than what he'd thought he'd see. More of the members were still inside, rather than at home. One of them was standing at the jobs board, staring at it. Makarov gets on top of the counter at the bar. "Get up, all of you! We've got a day ahead of us!" The hall groans in response. Brand and Gray walk to the counter, Brand sits at the bar while Gray stands behind him.

"So… paperwork is the first thing you want me to do? Is part of it the bills from Natsu destroying parts of towns?" Brand asks, trying to break the ice. He pulls a pen from his robes. The pattern moving through his robes changes from flames to snowfall. "I'm ready to get started." Makarov places two piles of paperwork in front of Brand.

"The pile on the left is documentation for becoming a citizen of the country as well as the paperwork for becoming a member of our guild. The pile on the right is unfilled copies of our damage reports and filing from this last week. This is your first test." Makarov stares at the robes Brand is wearing. The temperature around him changed a bit with the design, getting warmer. Almost as if the flames from before were to ward off all other heat and now that it changed to snow his body heat was being let out.

A woman with light blue hair in an orange dress walks to the counter. "Master, don't you think that's a bit much? He's a new guild member, so why is he being tested like this?" She looks worried. Brand looks at her, revealing his gemstone eyes.

"Sorry. I'm sure he'll double-check all my work once I'm done to ensure that what I'm doing would endanger the guild in any way." Brand's words seemed to calm the woman as his eyes turned back to the paper. Brand started writing through the paperwork faster than most could see. The papers were flying one by one through the air, making another neat pile to indicate filled and empty pages, each getting filled completely each time they crossed the threshold between the two piles. The pages stop with one remaining. Brand hesitates. "What should I put down for my country and town of birth? I don't think the council will take it lightly that more people are coming from other worlds."

"Just put down that you don't know. It's better if you leave out any details of your homeworld. We don't want an investigation about you. But that doesn't mean we won't ask about it ourselves." Makarov says with closed eyes. Brand leaves an X where it asks about peoples' births and nationalities. It made sense, as he knew the penalty for lying on these kinds of documents and that wasn't technically a lie. "The year is x800, right?" Makarov nods and Brand writes in the full date wherever it was needed.

Once Brand finished the paperwork for himself, he looked at the stack of paperwork that was for the damages of the last week alone. "How? How is there so much damage? From one group within a week? Even the dragon's back home weren't this destructive!" Brand stares at Makarov for five seconds. "Now you see what I do for this guild?" Brand and Makarov sigh. Brand starts to wave his hands to cast a spell, but Gray grabs his shoulder.

"What are you doing right now? You're not chanting, you're not using any magic circles, and you're certainly not using any magical equipment besides that pen! So, what are you doing with your hands?" Gray is visibly upset by the way Brand was moving.

"I'm using a spell called Telekinesis? I just don't want to use still spell thoughts right now so I can gain your trust." Brand says, pushing Gray's hand off and beginning to cast his spell again. Gray watches intently as the pages make a sort of wall so Brand could see all of them at once. The pages began to get filled out, from the earliest to the most recent. That wasn't bothering Gray, what was bothering him was that the pen moved as fast as he could watch it go through the words.

"Please verify the information contained within the pages." Brand says, giving the stack to Makarov with a smile. "It should be accurate to the amount that is due. Please tell me if the numbers are off at all." Brand turned to Gray. "I don't use Ethernano at all. I told you. If need be, I could start to learn the magic of this world as to calm you. But that would mean growing a first and second Origin. No telling what would happen after that. What kind of wizard would I become, I wonder?"

Gray sighs. "I guess I finally figured it out." A black mark started to move on Grays' arm. "You smell like a demon. You don't use our magic and you don't use Ethernano. That logically means you use curses, which only demons here use. Tell me, are you a demon? If so, who the hell created you?" Brand looks offended and annoyed.

"The only demons from this world I know about are the demons of the books of Zeref. Otherwise, you'd have to talk to the mountains of demons I killed back home. One of them was a demigod." Brand glares at Gray. "I have a feeling that part of your distaste for me comes from my name. You're an ice wizard so it's only natural that you'd hate somebody whose name translates to fire."

"That's enough out of the both of you." Makarov says. "Your words and numbers are flawless for what I myself would place. It's time we tested your abilities. What kind of magic would you say you use?" Makarov looks at Brand intently.

"If I had to say… evocation? I use some illusion, conjuration, I know some necromancy. But if I had to say my best magic, it'd have to be universal epic magic." Brand states all of this out loud. The woman from before looks at him curiously.

"Hey, I think it's time for introductions. I'm Levy, I use solid script magic. Would you mind letting me know what exactly universal magic is?" She put on some red glasses. "If you have a tome of it, I'd love to read-"THUMP. A heavy book hits the countertop, the cover reads 'W.I.S.H'. Brand looks at Levy, who is baffled at the size of the book.

"That is my spellbook. Its name is W.I.S.H, Wild Intelligence Sorcery Harness. It contains all manners of universal magic from my world. This means that it contains spells that can create other spells, spells that can do things that would normally be considered evil, but make them be dome in a good way." Brand starts his exposition.

"So it breaks the laws of magic where you're from?" Levy asks, concerned. "It is the law of magic where I'm from. There is only one spell that isn't in that book, and I do not wish to speak of it, I also hope I never have to cast it again." Brand opens the book. "Entertain yourself with all of those. Just don't get carried away."

"Well, it would help to have somebody like that in our guild…" Makarov starts placing the paperwork in boxes to send in for approval. "He's undetectable and has magic that nobody else seems to know how to use. That says to me that he'd fit right on in here. He's been completely honest with us."

Brand Smiles. "So, it's all just a matter of time?" "I suppose so." Gray says. "But we still have to see what this WISH actually does. I'll fight you to figure it out." Brand blinks. "I'm not going to fight you. Right now, my robes are making me immune to all cold. May that be weather or the most potent ice spell. I am simply immune to it as we speak. I can change it to something else if you'd prefer. But no, I won't fight to show you all what I can do. Instead, I will cast a spell that can bring the dead back to life. I will also remove any curses that would be on their souls."

The hall fell silent. There were many glares at Brand. A few hopeful looks and one fearful gaze. The only one who didn't turn was Levy, who was consumed into the rules of WISH, learning exactly what Brand had meant by what he just said. "Guys, it's not dark magic. It won't cost the lives of anybody. I will simply recreate their body, then bring their soul back into it. After that, I will break any enchantment or curse or what other affliction they might have. They'd have all their memories, even from when they were a ghost, if ever." Brand defends his words, though it may be too late.

"… You mean that? You can bring the dead back from death and remove anything wrong with them?" A young woman with dark blue hair speaks, her brown eyes filled with hope. "Is it limited to humans?" She asks, her voice filled with air and hope.

"It isn't limited to anything other than the fact that it had to be mortal and is now dead." Brand replies with a smile. "You want the Grandeeney back?" Brand let his information digging secret out by accident. "Because I can bring back the dragons that people ask me to. Which would be a good thing for the world, as it seems to have adapted to the idea of having a few dragons about."

"So you'd just let their sacrifices be for nothing!?" A voice comes from the entryway. A man with pink hair, a white scarf, and a fire in his belly enters the hall. "You'd make them suffer our deaths or make us suffer their death again! There's nothing truly good about that!" Fire coats the man's hand. "Even if there's nothing wrong with the intentions and nothing bad about the act, there would only be a loss in the end! Choose your next words carefully, or else you might get hurt!"

Brand looks at the fire on Natsu's hand, a force that could break parts of his current body. "You could get the answers you never got from him yourself. You could have experiences that you wouldn't have otherwise. Because it's not about inevitability, it's about what could be between now and then."


	3. Chapter 2: Understanding

Natsu's eyes burned with rage. "You just don't get it, do you?" His steps quickened towards Brand, the fire on his hand burning hotter. "It's not about all that. It's about respecting their memories, not forcing new ones to be made!" His voice wakes up those in the hall who were still sleeping. Brand watches this happening, knowing that Natsu was powerful enough to destroy his form with a few blows.

"I'm sorry. I promise not to perform Wish in that way." Brand says, lifting his hands. "But I feel like there's at least one more thing you should all know about me before you actually accept me into your guild." Brand seemed to have an expression on his face that seemed stuck between caution and determination. Levy looks up from W.I.S.H, curious to what he might say. The guild seems to come to life, surrounding the spellcaster as if yearning to know what he was going to say.

"There are beings from my world known as 'Liches'. A Lich will almost always come back from a destroyed state. These beings used to be alive but then fell into darkness in the search for immortality. They would tear out their own souls and place them into objects or living things, so that they could be reconstructed near, inside, or around the object after their bodies would be destroyed." Brand knew the reaction he was about to get.

"So, what you're saying is that there are beings that would sacrifice what made them humane and alive in order to keep existing?" Natsu said, lowering the flames on his hand. "Or is it demonic, like Tartaros?" Natsu's glare continued.

"It is unholy, yes. Most Liches are completely evil and have nothing to bring them back to the light whatsoever. However…" Brand took in a deep breath. "There is one Lich that I know of that became good once more. That Lich is me." Brand slowly lowered his hands, trying to have the guild understand what he is.

"I know that it might seem like a lie, but I can assure you that it's the truth." Brand stands up, his robes changing back to flames as he takes off his hat, revealing a skeleton. "I am not alive, but I will never truly die. The object I made into my phylactery- my soul object is a plane of existence that I created myself. I did this so that only reality-destroying deities could remove my existence forever. In the time I have been like this I saved the world I was from. But I came here to start over. No positive or negative. Only first impressions. I'm sorry for my disrespects from before." Brand sets his hat down on the bar. "So… Want to fight me to see what the strongest mage from my world is capable of?" Brand's teeth clack together in a way that would have seemed like a smile, if a smile made a sound without muscles.

Natsu's flames went away completely as he sighed. "Strongest from your world, huh? I dunno…" He grinned. "Let's fight outside of town! That way Gramps won't get mad at us destroying anything!" Brand and Natsu shook hands. "Now?" "Now."

Several minutes later, as well as some more words passed between the two mages, Natsu learned that Brand, due to being a Lich, had his structures strength increased from his charisma, which he had magically enhanced his body and soul to become stronger to do. In all, it was why Gray and Natsu were angry at him at the start. He was too charismatic. The mages reached a mountain where nobody went- a path Natsu would take an angry walk on every now and then.

"You don't need to hold back, Natsu." Brand smiled, visible from the Glamor his hat provided. "Don't you need that book from earlier to cast spells?" Natsu asks. "No. It's completely optional."

There was a good tension in the air now. Brand threw a fireball at Natsu, who eats it. "That tasted strange. In a good way." Natsu says, charging at Brand. "Fire dragon iron fist!" "Force punch!" The two fists clash, both mages are pushed back, shrugging any damage off. "Let's not skip to the good part." Natsu charges Brand again. "Wing attack!" Brand dodges the swipe Natsu throws at him, "Talon!" Brand receives a kick to the ribs, one cracking. "Flame elbow!" The forceful attack breaking two more. Brand is pushed back towards a bolder.

"Stop holding back, otherwise you'll only lose fights here!" Natsu yelled. "If you're the strongest, is everybody else only as strong as Macao?" Brand smiles. "You asked for it. Duel cast, forceful Hellball and Dreamscape!" The area the two were fighting on changes to a flat area, devoid of texture, as if in a white box. The area around Natsu explodes with force, but there is no element to it. It sends Natsu up, but he's smiling. "That's more like it-" Brand flies rapidly up to Natsu mid-fall. "Comet swarm and Dominate person!" A swarm of six small ice-meteors explode around Natsu and send him higher. His scarf turns black and he notices.

"Time out!" Natsu demands. "What the fuck did you just do to my scarf?!" Brand is taken aback by this sudden turn of events. "NOPE!" Brand yells. "Wish: Time reversal!"

The two mages stand in front of each other on the mountain, smiling. Brand stops smiling. "What? Suddenly not so confident, Brand?" Natsu says, confident. "No. I just reversed time a few seconds. I accidentally turned your scarf black. But now I know not to hold back or to use that spell. So now, you will face my most powerful spell. Tell me, do you think you can roar when I cast it at you?"  
Natsu looks confused. "Reversed time? Weird. But yeah, if you want it! Fire dragon's ROAR!" Fire started to come from Natsu's mouth, Brand looked pleased. "Vengeful Gaze of God." Beams of raw energy came from Brand's eyes, the energy clashes with Natsu's roar and the sky lights up for miles around. The struggle between the two kinds of magic seems to go on forever to the mages pushing forward. To the outside world, the struggle went on for only twelve seconds.

At the end, both mages were catching their breath, but for different reasons. Somehow, the spells became one source of magic and went up into the sky, and created an orb of godly flames. "What is that?" Natsu asks, looking at Brand, who was flickering between a skeletal and fleshy form. His hat wasn't on, so it was real flesh on his bones. Brand was holding his eyes, shattered crystals laid on the ground in front of where he stood.

"Hey- what's going on?" Natsu approached Brand and saw his eyes were bleeding when they were existing. Natsu, thinking quickly grabbed Brand's shoulders and set him down on the ground. "Was the cost of that spell your eyes?" Natsu asks. "Yeah. I didn't think it'd put me into a fleshy body to suffer the consequences again. I'd reverse time to stop time to cast this to reverse my own time, so it would take effect without the drawback normally. But I wanted you to trust me." Brand says, in pain. "What's it look like? The aftermath of our power clashing?" Brand asks, taking a thermos from his robes pocket and taking a sip.

"Like the sun, only the size of a house." Natsu says. Brand smiles while his muscles are real, those starting to be real more than not. "I'm going to level with you here. I might have to be slightly more mortal to continue existing in Earth Land." The muscles and skin stayed now, a smile on his face and his eyes bleeding. "You can eat that small star now, by the way. It's been changed somehow, probably truly divine fire by now." Brand waves his hands around where he thinks the ball of fire would be, facing to the right of where it was.

"If you say so. It better not taste like my fire." Natsu gets up and starts to inhale the orb. The blue cat, Happy comes out from behind a rock that seemed safe. "Is it over?" He asks, slightly shaken. "Yeah, little buddy. This fire is pretty good! Was that really divine magic?" Natsu finishes the small star with one final gulp. "No. I wouldn't say it's divine magic. But it's not entirely arcane either. I'd say it's… all magic? True magic? It's powerful and it deserves to be treated as a last resort. Most others from my world would have died casting that." Brand explains. His eyes stop bleeding as he finishes wiping the blood away.

"Mind carrying me back to the guild, Happy?" Brand asks. "I think I proved myself." Brand reaches into his eye holes and takes out the burnt and popped eyeballs. He throws them on the ground and coughs. "I could teleport there, but I think it sends a better message if we show up together." Natsu and happy look at each other. "Are you sure that you didn't hold back at all?" Natsu asks.

"Of course not. Think of my situation as though I have unlimited power, but I can only use so much at a time. If I had my soul inside of my body, I'd have more limited power, but I'd be able to release it all at once in a blast capable of destroying gods." Brand keeps talking after that, not noticing that Happy had started to carry him. "This guy really talks allot, doesn't he?" Happy comments.

Once the three of them returned to the guild hall, Brand's closed eyes started to regenerate. "Thanks for the carry." Brand says, taking another drink from his thermos. Happy places him next to the bar, next to Makarov. "I say he gets in." Natsu says. "He's got more fire in him than he lets on. I bet he could have wiped the floor with Zero if that was his opponent." Makarov nods. "Levy finished reading your book, Brand. I have to say it was nice of you to let her read it. Do you need it back?" Makarov seems slightly concerned if the answer would be yes. "No, sir. I think it's fine if she keeps it. The only spell I don't want her casting isn't in there. Natsu watched me use it and saw the drawbacks." Brand takes out a pair of glasses and puts them on, crystalline lenses with thin rims.

"Just what kind of spell did you cast?" Levy asks, leaning over the closed cover of the book. "I saw some spells in here that were dangerous in lots of ways, so what did that spell do?" Brand points to his still regenerating eyes. "It costs your eyes to cast it and it hits you with two-thirds of the damage you deal with it. A last resort kind of spell." He reaches for a chair to pull out to sit at the bar, accidentally grabbing a sword hilt.

"Need some help finding a chair?" Freed, a green haired man asks. "You know what? I'll just wait for my eyes to come back. That way I don't grope somebody by accident." Brand says, releasing the sword. "It may be better to wait it all out until I actually know if I'm a member on paper or not." Natsu smiles. "Don't worry, you'll just have to think of where to put your mark!"

Three days later, outside of the Fairy Tail guild hall on daylight's break Brand stands, ready to know the answer. Makarov walks to the door and unlocks it. "You know the others are already inside, don't you? There's a reason why it's called a surprise party." Makarov smiles and opens the door. Brand steps through the entryway, greeted by a loud "Welcome to Fairy Tail!" from the few guild members that decided he was worth welcoming into the guild. Those members were Levy, Laxus, Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Carla, Panther Lily, Gajeel, and Mirajane. It was a display for Brand alone. Makarov smiled at the sight. "You've been given this treatment because you're from another world and we gave you a hard time. Mira will give you your mark and the process will be complete." He says, the two of them moving toward the counter.

"Thank you. All of you for this welcome." Brand says. "I'd like to have the mark on my forearm, if you don't mind, Mira." Brand smiles and takes his glasses off. "Sure! What color do you want it to be?" Mirajane asks, smiling. "Hmm… Black. I think that would be best." "You got it." She pulls out a stamp, selects the black mark setting, and lightly presses it against Brand's neck.

"So how does it feel to finally be part of a guild, rather than an organization?" Lucy asks. "Well, it feels less like a business and more like joining a family." Brand answers. He seems more laid back than he did three days ago. "What about your project you told us about? Getting two origins to grow inside of you?" Erza asks. "It's coming along. I'm nearly done with it. Soon I'll be able to cast this world's kind of magic." Brand's eyes light up. He moves to the table where the group has gathered. "Mostly, I'm trying to figure out how to make my time stop spell work with this world's rules. There seems to be somebody else who moves around whenever I cast it."

Wendy stares at Brand. She knows who he's talking about, Ultear. She was the one who helped in the fighting that happened seven years ago when time stopped. "How long are you stopping time for, Brand?" Wendy asks. "Anywhere from twelve to twenty-four seconds." Brand answers, worried. "There's allot that can happen in that time." Brand looks towards the rest of the Dragon Slayers. "What about the rest of you guys? Any questions?" Brand asks.

Gajeel grins. "Yeah. I heard you can change air to metal, and from there you can turn it into any metal and any metal grade you want. Can you make adamantine, high-grade?" "Really, Gajeel? Have you ever even tasted adamantine?" Levy asks. "No, but I know how hard it is without magical properties added to it. My teeth will know the difference." "Just be careful chewing it." Brand grabs the air, changing it to a bar of adamantine. "Order up!" Brand says, tossing the bar to Gajeel.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Erza says. "You can turn the air into metals and even shape and enchant it to your liking, but the first thing you do is feed the guy who doesn't know what it looks like outside of its molded state? That doesn't even have the same color!" Erza scolds Brand.

"From my world, that's what it looks like. What does it look like here? Legend!" Brand starts to quickly read the differences between the two. "So… here it's heavier and holds a black color always. In addition, according to the memories of Metalicana's spirit, it also… you know what?" Brand makes a bar of Earth Land adamantine and sets it next to the one from his world. "Tell me which one tastes better." Gajeel looks at the two bars, one is black, as he expected. The other is a dark blue, like the night sky. "You really do have some different metals, don't you?" Gajeel takes a bite from each bar, thinking about the flavors. "Yeah, I'd only eat these if I really needed to. They're most likely going to be used to supercharge my next roar." Gajeel sounded like a food critic as he placed the half-eaten bars on the table.

"My question is; why did you join Fairy Tail? With that spell that lets you change your face and your charisma, you would fit in with Blue Pegasus." Laxus asks. "Simple. I don't like the way Ichiya talks or the constant poking around that archive magic does. Hypocritical, I know. Legend is more powerful than any of the current archive magic available, as it goes into what even people who are dead knew." Brand over-answers yet again.

"What about literally any dark guild? You said you committed atrocities back in your world, so I thought you would have been drawn to them." Gray prods, trying to get rid of his last shred of doubt. "Because I want to be on the side of good." Brand says, speaking only the truth. Levy has W.I.S.H open, casting the spell 'Zone of Truth' around Brand. "Well, it's the truth." Levy says, smiling. Brand answers the rest of the questions he's asked. Mostly about his past, some about his interest in Earth Land, one about dragons in his world and how they compare to his knowledge of Earth Land's dragons. Brand looks to the job board, thinking about going on an S-class job.


	4. Chapter 3: Belonging

"What do you mean, I can't go on one yet?" Brand asks, offended. "You've only tested my combat capabilities from the magic of my world. But I'm sure that Levy could tell you who's magic is better when it comes to other things. Travel, creation, enchantment, summoning, and healing. I'm sure that I could take on an S-class job and come back in one piece." Brand place his hand down on the table, letting the hot air out of his lungs, forgetting to breathe in his outburst.

"'You can't go alone is what I said." Makarov says, tapping Brand on the head with his walking stick, holding it there. "I know you like to think you're tough, but you made yourself mortal and you're still adjusting. No amount of begging will let you go alone. Take Wendy with you at the very least."

"Why Wendy, if you mind my asking? Why not any of the other S-class mages here?" Brand moves the stick away from his head. He starts pacing back and forth. "There are so many things I want to do. So many things I must restrain myself from doing. Joining this guild has stopped me from making my own dark guild and giving in to the temptation of the darkness that will always lurk within me. I have to know why Wendy is the person you chose to say 'at least' to. Natsu brings the light out in people, Erza pushes the darkness out, Gray brings out the truth of their intentions, but Wendy? Wendy would make me conflicted about my past." Brand had started to scratch his thumbs while pacing. Makarov had noticed.

"Brand, how old were you when you died? You told us you were about drinking age when you started adventuring, but in some places, that's not enough time to figure out who you are or to have control when you start drinking." Makarov asks, pestering Brand about his past he doesn't like to talk about.

"I was twenty-one. Twenty-three when the adventure started and twenty-four when it ended. At the end of that is when I changed into the skeleton of a man that walked in the door when you met me. I spent ten or so years as a Lich, acting as a crime boss. Why does any of this matter?" Brand looks at his hands. "I'm not sure I ever loved. I hated people. I had time to hate and punish people, but I couldn't find time for love. What is this about?"

Makarov pulls Brand's ear down to whisper into it. Brand coughs and opens a telepathic link. The two of them seemed to be staring at each other and nodding. Brand begins pacing again as Makarov sits down. "You don't want people to hear us, huh?" Brand thinks to Makarov. "There are better ways than whispering."

"This is about you as much as it is about Wendy. She's twenty-one now and the other dragon slayers are already happy with their situations." Makarov takes a drink of beer. "Are you suggesting I play matchmaker or that I start dating her?" Brand's thoughts sound concerned. "Natsu and Erza. Laxus and Mira. Gajeel and Levy. Most of those relationships have had time to prosper into fruition over a long stretch of time, Gajeel and Levy worked together for two years before they hit it off, they've been friends for the shortest time out of those pairs." Brands thinks without a filter, letting those thoughts go to Makarov faster than normal speech. But the comprehension was still there.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Brand thinks. "There's no reason for me to be the one to bring a storm to her calm heart, nor a reason for her to be the one to quell the raging storm that takes mine. I may be a respectable person right now but-"images start to send instead of voice-words. Burning buildings filled with children, a massive explosion taking an island, demons of many forms flowing from a portal towards wounded soldiers. The evils Brand had done before, during the time when evil was what he sought to do. "But you're missing the amount of good you have done, aren't you?" Makarov lets Brand hear. "You said you saved the world you were born in on multiple occasions. Were those not your best moments?"

"No. My best moments were the moments I did things regardless of myself. Saving a town because they had let me stay in a tavern for a night. Cleansing a land from the corruption that took it, because I was asked. Helping a child learn to heal others while teaching them why it is important to help them." Brand recalls these specific moments to Makarov. "I did those things because people needed help. Not because I needed to return a favor. Not because it was personal. And most certainly not because I needed to save the world. Because to me, saving the world is the same as saving only my own home and my pets."

"You're humbled by your great deeds." Makarov says, stopping the connection between their minds. "You only see the goodness in deeds that are done in the name of those that don't include yourself. So, I think it's time you learned that it's okay to say that saving the world isn't a neutral thing to be done, but a good one." Makarov shakes his head. "What kind of philosophy did you grow up with, where you could think that?"

Brand takes a moment, noticing the stares of Natsu and Happy. "It was one I developed through adventuring. I'll try to grow out of it." With that, Brand let out a sigh. "Was this more that Wendy needs a boyfriend or that I need to learn that I belong here now?"

"It's about both." Makarov says.

Natsu walks to Brand, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What the hell was that entire conversation? You were talking, then a long pause, then you started again, then Wendy needs to date? I'm not sure what Gramps' plan is, but you better not make Wendy cry at the end of this." Brand nods to agree.

"I'd hate to see her cry. Nobody in this guild should suffer in any way because of my existence." Brand walks past Natsu, out of the guild hall. "I think it's time for an explanation." Brand says, moving his arms like the hands of a clock. "Time Stop."


End file.
